Pretty Little Liars: 17 and Pregnant

Chapter 16: Sickly Lies

Disclaimer: All PLL rights go to respected owners!!

The next morning

Hanna nestled her head into the space between Caleb's shoulder blades. He had decided to stay the night, and the two of them stayed up past midnight talking. Even though Hanna was only around six weeks pregnant, it was still kind of fun to think about things like baby names or nurseries. Of course, they talked about the practical things too. They discussed what Hanna was going to do about school, how they were going to financially support the baby, etcetera. Caleb had fallen asleep around 2am, but Hanna was still wide awake, splitting her time between vomiting her guts out and panicking about announcing the news to her mother. She now had the support of her best friends and Caleb, but her mom supporting her was really important. Hanna rolled over to glance at the clock on her bedside table, still keeping one arm around Caleb's warm, bare torso. 3:51am. Hanna sighed and pressed her face into her boyfriend once more. She stayed there in silence before finally drifting off to the gentle rise-and-fall of his breaths.

~~~

"Hanna?" A familiar voice questioned exasperatedly. Hanna groaned softly as the room flooded with light. She felt like she had been hit by a truck; her head was pounding with a horrible migraine and her stomach was churning, despite being empty. Ashley Marin stepped away from Hanna's window and crossed her arms, staring at her daughter. Hanna's eyes widened.

Crap. She thought. She had completely forgotten to set her alarm, which meant she was definitely late for school... but more importantly, her mom was home!!!

"Mom..." Hanna said, her voice rusty from sleep. She sat up quickly; big mistake. Her head exploded with pain and vomit rose in her throat, but she managed to hold back a gag as she laid back down slowly.

"Hanna. Why aren't you at school? It's 11:00," Ashley said, her voice laced with both annoyance and concern. She sat down slowly on Hanna's bed, her blue eyes fixated on her daughter.

"I don't feel well," Hanna murmured with her eyes closed, trying to hold back a dry heave. It definitely wasn't a lie. Boy, if there was one thing Hanna had learned from pregnancy so far, it was that "morning sickness" was definitely not an appropriate name; it was more like relentless, 24/7 stomach flu. Her mother frowned.

"You don't look well either," She admitted. Hanna opened her eyes slowly, glaring at her mother.

"Thanks," She said.

Ashley rolled her eyes.

"What doesn't feel well?" She asked, placing a palm on Hanna's forehead gently. "You're not feverish,"

"Everything," Hanna moaned, before a tide of nausea washed over her and she felt the puke rising in her chest. She tried to swallow it, but this time it wasn't going away. Hanna sprang out of her bed quickly and rushed towards her bathroom. Her mother followed her after a moment, a mix of worry and confusion across her face. As Hanna knelt over the toilet, Ashley held her daughter's blonde hair back with one hand while rubbing gentle circles across her back with the other. After a few minutes, Ashley filled a cup of water and brought it over to Hanna, who was sitting on the tiled floor.

"Han, you really are sick," She said sympathetically. Hanna nodded, bringing the cup to her pale face with shaky hands . "Are you hung-over?" Ashley asked. Hanna looked at her despairingly.

"No, Mom," She protested weakly.

"Really? Why was Caleb here last night?" Ashley asked, putting a hand on her hip and cocking her eyebrow. Hanna froze. She had completely forgotten about Caleb.

"He was here when I got home," Her mother continued. "He said he was just grabbing something you forgot for school." Ashley knelt down on the floor next to Hanna. "You know I'm not going to punish you for drinking, Hanna. Clearly you've been punished enough," She chuckled humorlessly, gesturing to Hanna and the toilet. Hanna sighed.

"I wasn't drinking, Mom," She replied. "Caleb just stayed over because he just got back yesterday, I missed him. We didn't do anything like that," Hanna looked down at the cup in her hands, avoiding eye contact. Ashley frowned.

"Okay, honey. I guess you really are just sick, then. Do you have any idea why? Are your friends sick, or..." She said as Hanna rose up from the floor slowly. Hanna shook her head.

"No, Mom. I must've just eaten something bad last night," Hanna said before grimacing inwardly.

Why did I say that! Hanna thought. I could've just told the truth... but before she could take back the lie, Ashley wrapped Hanna in a side hug.

"You go back to bed, then, sweetie. Would you like something to eat?" She asked, walking out of the bathroom. Hanna almost gagged again; she couldn't even think about food right now, her stomach tossing with sickness from both stress and pregnancy.

"No thanks. I think I'm just going to try to sleep for a bit longer, I was up late last night," Hanna explained. A look of concern washed over Ashley's face.

"Were you throwing up all night? Should I take you to the doctor, Hanna?" She said, reaching for Hanna's wrist and pulling her gently to a stop. Hanna panicked.

"No, no! No doctors," She exclaimed, before quickly regaining her composure. "No, Mom. I'm fine, really. It's just food poisoning or the stomach flu or something. I'm sure I'll be fine soon," She told her mom, pulling away from her grasp. Ashley still looked worried, but relented.

"Okay then," Hanna's mother sighed. "I'm going to do some cleaning, alright? Let me know if you need anything, I'll be home all day," She said. Hanna nodded. "Sure," She said, treading back to her room slowly. Hanna flopped onto her bed. She didn't even know why she lied; it had just made things worse. She was going to have to tell her mom sooner rather than later, before A got to her first.